YAHOO! SEEKING OPEN ALLIANCE WITH GOOGLE — Yahoo! executives are scrambling to finalize a search-advertising pact with Google in the face of a fresh challenge to its independence from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, The Post has learned. — According to two sources close to the situation …

Breaking: Condé Nast/Wired Acquires Ars Technica — Condé Nast has acquired popular technology blog Ars Technica, we've confirmed. The site will become part of Wired Digital (which in turn is under CondéNet, run by Sarah Chubb). Wired Digital assets include Wired.com and Reddit (acquired in 2006).

‘$100 laptop’ platform moves on — An independent effort to develop the software originally designed for the $100 laptop has been launched. — Sugar Labs will take the laptop's innovative interface, known as Sugar, to the “next level of usability and utility”, according to its founders.

Open Sugar & Microsoft: End of OLPC As We Know It? — However great an idea it might have seemed when it was first conceived, the One Laptop Per Child project has never been something I've been able to wrap my head around. I've always felt, despite the backers' good intentions …

France's Orange signs new iPhone deal with Apple — PARIS (AP) — French wireless operator Orange said Friday it has signed a deal with Apple Inc. to sell its iPhone in the Middle East, Africa and several European countries. — France Telecom's Orange said in a one-sentence statement …

Data Portability: It's The New Walled Garden — The scuffle today between Facebook and Google has very little to do with user privacy and everything to do with user control. A huge battle is underway between Google, MySpace and Facebook around control of user profiles and, therefore, users themselves.

The Anti-Piracy Scam: Canada Insulted Again — The Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus (IPAC) was established in October 2003. Its website states: " The Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus is a bipartisan and bicameral group committed to protecting American intellectual property …

Thunder To Battle iPhone?! Well, Maybe Some Day Just Not Now — The rumor mill once again is churning big time in the battle between BlackBerry and iPhone, Research in Motion — And now comes word of the Thunder. — Speculation is rampant all over the web that RIM is readying the touch screen Thunder for release in the Fall.

Demand.OpenID.net: A One Click Call to Action — OpenID provider JanRain has launched an interesting project called Demand OpenID, which lets users click a bookmarklet whenever they are on a website that they want to request OpenID support on. It's a handy, if a touch rude …

Nintendo Wii outsells 360, PS3, PS2, PSP combined in April — The NPD console sales numbers have been released for April, stuffed with fascinating content. How did the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Grand Theft Auto stack up against each other? Did Mario Kart Wii sell as many copies as expected?

PayPal XSS Vulnerability Undermines EV SSL Security — A security researcher in Finland has discovered a cross-site scripting vulnerability on paypal.com that would allow hackers to carry out highly plausible attacks, adding their own content to the site and stealing credentials from users.